Trump warned Putin the US would ‘hit Moscow’, ex-President tells golfer (VIDEO)
Donald Trump warned Russian leader Vladimir Putin that his country would "hit Moscow", the former US President has been heard telling golfer John Daly in a clip released online in which the billionaire discusses nuclear weapons and predicts that China will invade Taiwan.
Trump discusses Russia with ex-Open Championship winner Daly in the footage, using the telephone call to describe Putin as a "friend" who he "got along great with" and referring to a threat he made during his time as President.
While it is unclear exactly what the US would have been retaliating against, Trump confided in Daly while the veteran put him on loudspeaker mode: "They're all saying, 'Oh he's a nuclear power.
"It's like they're afraid of him. You know, he was a friend of mine. I got along great with him.
"I said, 'Vladimir, if you do it, we're hitting Moscow.' I said, 'We're going to hit Moscow.'"
Daly was relaxing inside at the Hoag Classic tournament in California when he took part in the call.
A person at the tournament filmed the conversation and verified the date and location of the video, according to Insider, which said Trump's office did not return a request for comment.
Current President Joe Biden's predecessor told Daly that Putin "knew he couldn't" order an invasion of Ukraine while Trump was in office, adding: "He never did it during my time, John."
John Bolton, Trump's former national security advisor, said on Friday that Putin had thought Trump would withdraw the US from NATO had he won a second term in office rather than lost the 2020 US Presidential Election to Biden.
Bolton also claimed Trump knew very little about Russia and Ukraine, although Trump subsequently dismissed his remarks.
When Daly told Trump it was "funny" how Chinese leader Xi Jinping "didn't bother you either", Trump replied in the call: "No, Xi didn't bother me.
"I told him the same thing. That'll be next. That's going to be next. Taiwan will be next."
The 75-year-old appeared to refer to Taiwan's status as by far the largest manufacturer of semiconducter chips when he warned: "You won't have any computer chips. They'll blow them off the face of the earth."
The remarks seem consistent with Trump's speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference last week.
"I was with Putin a lot, I spent a lot of time with him – I got along with him," he told his audience, calling the invasion of Ukraine a "travesty" which he would have found "easy" to stop.
"It's a good thing to get along with people. It's not a bad thing. He understood me; he understood I didn't play games."
Trump played golf at his West Palm Beach course while wearing his signature 'Make America Great Again' hat on Friday, DailyMail.com reported.
The outlet said that Allan Kournikova, the 17-year-old half-brother of Russian former world tennis number one Anna Kournikova, was among the golfers to play alongside Trump.
